Friday, July 1 top stories
It is Friday, July 1. Here are today’s top stories.
Brittney Griner trial begins in Russia
Today the trial of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner began in Russia.
An image of Griner shows her handcuffed and being led into a courtroom by a female guard.
The New York Times said legal experts believe her trial on a drug charge will “end in a conviction despite the clamor in the United States for her release.”
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport just a week before Russia invaded Ukraine and was accused of carrying cannabis vaping products. Legal experts believe Russia will use Griner as leverage in its relations with the U.S.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, in an interview on Thursday, expressed frustration with the U.S. government because she doubts they are doing everything in their power to bring her home.
The U.S. State Department said they are very engaged in the case but can’t share details because it is a “sensitive matter.”
Giant African snail sighting in Florida raises alarms
In Florida’s Pasco County, near Tampa, there was a quarantine area order enacted last week due to a sighting of an invasive giant African snail, which is one of the most destructive species of animals due to its size and appetite for 500 different kinds of plants. It can even eat paint and stucco.
This kind of snail, at four months old, can lay thousands of eggs.
The snails can cling to vehicles or trash to move long distance and are very tough because they can bury themselves in soil and survive for a year if they need to.
The snails also carry a dangerous parasite called rat lungworm that can cause meningitis .
CBS News said a community gardner in Port Richey identified the snail and informed authorities. Workers with the Florida’s department of agriculture treated the area with baited pesticide.
Florida has had some run-ins with giant snails in its history and have successfully eradicated them.
Young girl loses leg after shark attack
A young girl was bitten by a shark on Florida’s northwestern Gulf Coast and survived, but lost a leg.
Authorities did not reveal the girl’s age, but said she was scalloping, which is to snorkel along shallow water to try and find scallops.
When the girl was in water about five feet deep, a nine-foot shark bit the girl. A family member jumped into the water and charged at the shark, which made it go away.
The girl was airlifted to a hospital in Tallahassee and underwent surgery.
A local sheriff’s office put out advice for those who want to go scalloping to “never swim alone, do not enter the water near fisherman, avoid areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), do not swim near large schools of fish, and avoid erratic movements while in the water.”
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Russian missile kills 20 in Odesa, Ukraine
At least 20 people were killed in Odesa, Ukraine this early Friday morning when Russian missiles struck a residential building and a recreation center. At least one child was among the victims.
An Ukrainian official said Russia is a “terrorist state” and taking revenge on civilians for their losses on the battlefield.
Emmett Till case resurfaces with unserved warrant found
The family of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black teenager who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after he was accused of flirting with a white shopkeeper, announced that they found an unserved warrant for the female accuser, Carolyn Bryant.
The warrant was found in a box in a Mississippi county courthouse. It orders the arrest of Bryant, her then-husband Roy, and a man named J.W. Milam, for kidnapping Till.
The warrant said in the back that Carolyn was not arrested because she couldn’t be located at the time.
The two men went on trial for murdering Till but were acquitted by an all-white jury. They later confessed to the murders. Both men are now dead, but Carolyn is still alive and is in her 80’s with her last known address in North Carolina.
A law professor told Fox 32 News that arrest warrants can “lose” its power with the passage of time but the warrant, combined with any new evidence or information, could initiate a new prosecution.
The Till family said they want to see justice served with Carolyn being arrested.
Texas migrant deaths update
The death toll in the Texas migrant truck smuggling incident has increased to 53. It is the deadliest migrant-trafficking incident in the U.S.
The suspected truck driver was charged in federal court on Wednesday with human trafficking crimes. The truck driver’s name is Homero Zamorano Jr. He is a Texan and was found by police hiding in the brush.
Three other men were arrested in connection to the incident.
The migrants were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The truck was abandoned on Monday in the San Antonio area. First responders said the truck had stacks of bodies inside and that many were hot to the touch. It was over 100 degrees outside on Monday and the truck had no signs of water or a working air conditioner.
The migrants were already on U.S. soil somewhere in Texas before they got on the truck. The truck passed two U.S. Customs and Border Protection cameras without any detection before it was abandoned. Analysts said the migrants likely crossed the borders in smaller groups before being concentrated in a safe house before getting into the truck with hopes to be moved further into the U.S.
Texas authorities said they would set up highway checkpoints to investigate trucks driving across the state.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/07/01/world/russia-ukraine-war-brittney-griner
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/30/politics/brittney-griner-wife-chenelle-interview-spt-intl/index.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article263091893.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/01/odesa-missile-attack-russia-ukraine
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=701108784289336
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/30/us/emmett-till-warrant-discovered/index.html